The fluorescent lamps have been used wildly in the world for illumination. The traditional fluorescent lamp is detachably installed on a fluorescent lamp base to receive the power from the power source in the base to emit light. According to the principle of luminosity of the traditional fluorescent lamp, the fluorescent lamp base has to provide a starter and a ballast to drive the traditional fluorescent lamp. The starter is used for heating filaments in the fluorescent lamp and raising a voltage between the two terminals of the fluorescent lamp, so as to ignite the fluorescent lamp to light. The traditional fluorescent lamp has a negative incremental impedance characteristic, so that it needs the ballast to limit the amount of the current for preventing the fluorescent lamp from damage.
The traditional fluorescent lamp is filled with Argon, Neon, Krypton at low atmospheric pressure, and a bit mercury vapor which is harmful. The traditional fluorescent lamp also has the disadvantages of high power consumption and high heat generation. Compared to the traditional fluorescent lamp, the LED lamp has the advantages of absence of mercury pollution, more power saving, and long life. Therefore, the LED lamps are adopted more widely in the world recently to replace the traditional fluorescent lamp.
To replace the traditional fluorescent lamp by the LED lamp, the original circuit included in the fluorescent lamp base might need to be modified to adapt the LED lamp. There are two types of the fluorescent lamp bases: one adopts an independent starter and an inductance as the ballast; the other adopts an electrical ballast including the starter therein. The inductance opposes the change in current and so the inductance ballast would attempt to keep the current of the LED lamp in a fixed current substantially. The starter and the electrical ballast generate a gaseous electric discharge in the fluorescent lamp by raising the voltage, and so it would cause the LED lamp to burn away. For the first type of the fluorescent lamp base, the LED lamp can be installed on the base directly and operates normally by taking the starter away and retaining the inductance ballast, and the starter in this type of fluorescent lamp base can be easily took away by the user. On the contrary, the electrical ballast needs to be removed away by the user, and further the circuit in the fluorescent lamp base must be modified correspondingly for the LED lamp.
The modification to the electric ballast type fluorescent lamp base is complicated to the user, even to the professional. Also, it needs manpower and material resources to make the modification. The inconvenience of the modification to the electric ballast keeps the users from replacing the traditional fluorescent lamp with the LED lamp.
Therefore, a novel means for solving the above problem is needed.